Are You Able to Crack It? That Forgotten Netherlands Invention Which Shaped the Modern Globe
There are many candidates for the designation as “world’s greatest innovation.” The circular axle. The movable type. The combustion motor.
As per a new book, however, that title should go to a automated sawmill invented through Dutchman Corneliszoon van Uitgeest in 1593.
“Before mechanised cutting, constructing a simple merchant vessel necessitated around 10 sawyers working for three months,” notes the author. “Using wind-powered sawmills, the same amount of processed timber might be produced in less than seven days.”
Owing to their rapid mechanical saw, that converted logs into planks using almost no manual labor, Dutch builders were able to build vessels more quickly than anyone else, an advantage that unleashed a century of Dutch maritime, financial and artistic dominance across Europe and the world.
The Original Genuine Manufacturing Device
The inventor's sawmill, contends the writer, represented “humanity’s first authentic industrial apparatus.” A windmill turned a wheel. One component transformed its rotary motion to up-and-down action for the cutting blade. A separate mechanism transformed that same rotary motion into a lateral movement feeding the log to the cutter. A ratchet system shifted the wood ahead a measured step per cycle.
“Each element seemed modest on its own. Corneliszoon’s genius was to combine these parts so the machine operated within a perfectly controlled sequence, sawing with each descending stroke while advancing with each upward motion. It was a remarkably intelligent use of fundamental parts.”
Which leads us up to the current challenge. I’d like you to reinvent a key the fundamental ideas underpinning this historic invention.
Round and Up
Design a mechanism which converts circular movement to vertical action. You have these items only: A rotating disc. Two pegs. Two rods. A “guide”, that is a cylinder or sleeve through which one of the bars can slide perfectly. (Assume you can mount components on a base, so that the components do not fall down.)
I’ll be back later today UK with the solution.
In the interim, NO SPOILERS. Instead, feel free to propose (less celebrated) candidates as the planet’s most impactful invention.
